Falls



2 t e e S w e h S 2 B A. R 3 E L m JG .1 B u d 0 M o W Patented July 27, 1897. v

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT FFIQE.

FRANK J. COOMBS, OF COLUMBIA FALLS, MONTANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-- HALF TO MILTON T. SMALL, HENRY A. STANLEY, BENHORE A. HILTON, AND W'ILLIAM VANDERVEER, OF SAMEPLAOE.

BICYCLE-1B RAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 587,185, dated July 27, 1897. A plicati n 516.1 February 3,1897. Serial No. 621,849. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: into an enlarged recess 7. The inner ends of Be it known that I, FRANK J. OooMBs, of the pins 6 engage with an abutment 8, against Columbia Falls, in the county of Flathead and which one end of a coiled spring 9 bears, the State of Montana, have invented new and useother end of said spring bearing against the 111 Improvements in Bicycle-Brakes, of which inner end wall of the recess 7. These springs the following is a full, clear,'and exact dewill serve to hold the shoes yieldingly toscription. gether.

This invention relates to brakes for bicycles Mounted to slide outward in peripheral reor similar wheeled vehicles; and the object is cesses 10 in the shoes are dogs 11, designed to [O to provide a brake mechanism in connection engage in notches 12, formed in the inner pewith the pedal-shaft and-sproeket-wheel that riphery of the sprocket-rim. These dogs 11 may be easily and quickly set to braking poare forced outward to engage in the notches sition by back pressure on the pedals, and, 12 when the shoe-sections are moved together. further, to so construct the device that the For this purposelprovide the respective shoes :5 sprocket-rim may rotate freely relatively to at their inner edges with pivoted pins 13. said shaft and of course while the pedals are The pin 13of one shoe is movable in an openat rest. ing in the other shoe and has an inclined end I will describe a bicycle-brake embodying :to engage against the inner portion of the dog my invention, and then point out the novel 11 of the other shoe, as plainly indicated in 20 features in the appendedclaims. Fig. 5-that is, when the shoes are moved Reference is to be had to the accompanying together by means of the springs 7 the pins drawings, forming a part of this specification, 13 will force the dogs 11 outward, so that they in which-similar characters of reference indimay engage in the notches 12 of the sprocketcate corresponding parts in all the views. rim. WVhen, however, the dogs are separated,

2 5 Figure 1 is aside elevation of a portion of bymeans hereinafter to be described,.the dogs abicycle and showing a brake mechanism em- 11 will be moved inward by their contact with bodying my' invention as applied thereto. the rim.

Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section of a portion of Secured to each side of the rim 1 is a cover the handle-bar, showing means for discon- 14 made in the form of a ring and designed o necting the brake from the pedal-shaft. Fig. to rotate on the pedal-shaft 15. As here 3 is a side elevation of the sprocket-rim and shown, I have provided the pedal-shaft 15 the brake mechanism therein. Fig. at is a with collars 16 and 17. These collars 16 and cross-section thereof. Fig.' 5 is a section on 17 are each provided with an annular groove, the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a section on in whiehis seated a series of antifriction-balls 35 the line 6 6 of Fig. 4, and Fig; 7 is an inner 18, which also engage in annular grooves edge view of one of the brake-shoes employed. formed in the ring-shaped covers 11. These Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a covers 14; are designed principally to inclose sprocket-rim havingsprocket-teeth2thereon, the brake mechanism, but it is obvious that I withwhich the drive-chain leading to the rear they will, to a great extent, prevent the en- 40 wheel is designed to engage. The brake is trance of dust and dirt. arranged within the sprocket-rim, and it com- The shoes on their opposite faces and at prises two shoe-sections 3 4. When these two their inner edges are provided with recesses shoe-sections 3 and 4 are in their normal pohaving a cam-shaped wall 19. The recesses sition or with their adjacent edges close toof one shoe of course are in alinement with 5 gether, the contour will be somewhat ellipthe recesses of the other shoe. In these re- 5 tical, as plainly indicated in Fig. 5. Each cesses are seated cam-wheels 20 and 20 each shoe, at its inner edge, has a tongue 5, engaghaving opposite curved or cam-shaped teeth ing in a recess formed in the other shoe. The 21. These cam-wheels 20 20 are designed at tongue of a shoe is provided with pins 6, which certain times to be locked together, so that 50 pass through openings in the other shoe and both will rotate with the pedal-shaft, and at [ca other times to be disconnected, so that the sprocket-rim may rotate freely with relation to the shaft.

I will now describe the means for locking and releasing these cam-wheels. The inner cam-wheel 20 is rigidly attached to the collar 17, and extended from this collar 17 is a sleeve 22, which surrounds the shaft and extends inside the hub-lining 23. This tube 22 is in fact a part of the shaft, and it is provided on opposite sides with longitudinal channels in which key-pins 24 are movable. These key pins are designed to project through openings in the collar 17, the camwheel the tongues 5, and into holes in the cam-wheel 20. The opposite ends of these pins are attached to a ring 25, mounted to slide on the sleeve 22. A coiled spring 26 surrounds the sleeve 22 and bears at one end against the ring 25 and at the opposite end against a collar or similar device 27, attached to the sleeve 22. This spring, therefore, is designed to force the key-pins into place.

A yoke 28 engages over a portion of the sleeve 22 and bears against the ring 25 at the side opposite that engaged by the spring 26. This yoke 28 has a stem 29, extended outward through a slot formed in the hub-lining 23. I have here shown a plate 30, engaging on the outer side of the hub-lining 23 and a plate 31, engaging against theinner side of the hublining, and through these plates the stem 29 is passed. A cord or similar flexible connection 32 is secured at one end to the stem 29 and passes through the tubular portions of the bicycle-frame and into the tubular handle-bar 33, where it is connected to a block 34, designed to slide longitudinally of the handle-bar. This block 34 haslateral projections or wing portions engaging in longitudinallydisposed grooves 35 in the inner surface of the handlebar, so that said block may be moved longitudinally of the handle-bar, but will be prevented from rotating therein. The block 34 is provided with a tapped hole in which the screw-threaded end of an adjustin g-rod 36 extends outward through the hand grip 37, and is provided with a milled head 38, by means of which it may be rotated to adjust the block within the handle-bar, so that a greatcror less pull may be exerted upon the flexible connection 32.

I11 the end of the handle-bar 33 is a cambloek 39, having a cam-shaped notch 40 in its end, into which a lug 41 on the inner end of the hand-grip 37 engages. By this construction it will be seen that by slightly rotating the hand-grip 37 in either direction the block 34 will be drawn toward the end of the handlebar, and this, of course, bydrawing upon the flexible connection 32, will move the ring 25 along the tube 22 and draw the key-pins 24 out of engagement with the cam-wheel 20, which is rigidly attached to the shaft L5, and also out of engagement with the tongues 5.

A brake-block 42 of suitable material is attached to the periphery of each shoe 3 4.

As here shown each shoe is provided with a segment-shaped recess in its edge, and in this recess the block 42 is seated and is adapted to move. The ends of the block are provided with grooves which engage over tongues to form the end walls of the segmental recesses. As the outer surface of these brake-blocks 42 is subject to considerable wear, it is necessary that they should be adjusted at times. For this purpose I have shown screws 43 engaging in the shoes and bearing against the inner sides of the brakeblocks. These inner sides will preferably be provided \vitha strip of hard metal-such, for instance, as steel. Obviously when abrakeblock is worn, it may be taken out and the screws 43 turned slightly outward and then the block replaced.

lien a rider is pedaling to move the bicycle forward, the parts will be in the position indicated in Fig. 3-that is, the dogs 11 will be in engagement with the shoulders formed on the inner side of the sprocket-rim and the key-pins 24 will be in engagement with the cam-wheel 20. Therefore all the parts will move with the rotary movement of the pedal shaft. Vhen it is desired to apply the brake, the rider will draw the pins 24 out of engagement with the wheel and give a back pressure to the pedals, and this will cause the cam projections 21 to force the shoes outward and the blocks 42 against the inner periphery of the sprocket-rim. When the shoes are thus spread apart, the pins 13 will release the dogs 11, and as their outer ends are slightly beveled the momentum of the rim will force the dogs inward and the increased back pressure on the pedals will gradually stop the rim. \Vhen a rider desires to coast down a hill, he will draw the key-pins 24 out of engagement with the wheel 20 in the manner before described and hold the shaft still by means of his feet on the pedals, and then the rim may rotate relatively to the shaft; but in this case there should be no back pressure on the pedals sufficient to apply the brake.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A brake for a bicycle or similar wheeled vehicle, comprising a sprocket-rim having shoulders formed on its periphery, brakeshoes arranged in said rim and having recesses on opposite sides provided with cam-walls, a pedal-shaft, a cam secured to said pedalshaft and engaging in the recesses at one side of the brake-shoes, a tube mounted to rotate on the shaft, a cam carried by said tube and engaging in the recesses of the opposite side of said brake-shoes, dogs carried by the brake-shoes, means for moving the same outward to engage notches formed in the sprocket rim when the brake-shoe sections are moved together, and means for locking and releasing the cams, substantially as specified.

2. A brake for a bicycle or similar vehicle, comprising a sprocket-rim, brake-shoes arranged within the rim, a pedal-shaft, a cam on the pedal-shaft, for moving the shoe-sections apart, dogs movable in recesses formed in the periphery of the shoe-sections, pins on the shoe-sections, the pins of one section being adapted to engage with the dogs of the other section, for moving the same outward,

and springs for drawing the said sections toward each other, substantially as specified.

3. A brake for a bicycle or the'like, comprising a sprocket-rim, two shoe-sections arranged therein, each shoe-section having a tongue portion to engage in a recess formed in the other section, pins extended from said tongue portions into enlarged recesses in the shoe-sections, springs for drawing said pins inward, segmental brake-blocks on the shoesections, means for adjusting said blocks, and means for moving the shoe-sections from each other upon the movement of the pedal-shaft of the bicycle, substantially as specified.

4. A brake for a bicycle or the like, comprising a sprocket-rim, brake-shoe sections arranged in said rim, a pedal-shaft, a cam on the pedal-shaft engaging with cam portions of the shoe-sections, a tube mounted to rotate on the pedal-shaft, a cam carried by said tube and engaging with cam-surfaces 'on the shoe-sections, a ring movable on said tube, key-pins attached to said ring and movable V through openings formed in the two cams, a

shaft, ring-shaped side plates secured to the 40 to move the shoe-sections from each other, a

sleeve extended from the movable collar and engaging around the shaft, a ring movable on said sleeve, a spring for forcing the ring f0rWard, key-pins extended from the ring and designed to engage through openings in the movable collar and the two cams, a yoke engaging against one side of the ring, a stem extended from said yoke through a slot-opening in the hub, a tubular handle-bar, a handgrip mounted to rotate relatively tothe handle-bar, and a connection between the stem of the yoke and said hand-grip, substantially as specified.

6. The combination with a pedal-shaft, of a brake mechanism comprising shoes and means for forcing the same against the interior of a sprocket-rim, a sprocket-rim around said shoes, a tubular handle-bar, a block mounted to slide therein, a block secured in the end. of the tubular handle-bar and hav- FRANK J. COOMBS.

Witnesses:

EMMA C. MILLER, MAIE VALENTINE. 

